Page 127 of Sacrifice (Corrupt Empire 2)

AIDEN: Have any trouble?

ME: A little. I’ll tell you later x

When my uncle came back, he handed the keys over and sat back down.

“Now, we still need to discuss this event.”

I sighed, settling in for a long discussion about the birthday event I didn’t want thrown for me.

l

I stepped out of the lift into the hallway, taking a deep breath. John had driven me here, but I asked him to wait in the car. This was something I had to do by myself. Being back here made my heart thump in my chest and a cold sweat beaded at the back of my neck.

I couldn’t pick my feet up from the floor. Looking around the hallway, I noticed nothing had changed. There was a vase of dead flowers sitting on the side table. I remembered they’d been blooming with lilies the last time I was here.Above it hung a family portrait my dad had commissioned when I was younger. I stood between them. My dad’s hand was on my shoulder and my mum looked happy.

The sight of it made my heart ache. It reminded me of the portrait I’d started of him which was still in my studio, untouched. I had to do something about it, but I still wasn’t sure what.

The two people who were my world had turned out to be monsters of the worst kind. Hiding behind masks and the illusion of civility. Their true depravity might not ever come to light. I could end this all now. Show the world the truth. It didn’t feel right to do it like that. There were still things we didn’t know. Still pieces of crucial evidence we needed. That meant I couldn’t stand around in the hallway.

I walked towards the first open doorway. My pulse skittered. My fists clenched. I came to a standstill just beyond the threshold, trying to keep the terror at bay.

Right here is where it happened. There was still a faint stain on the hardwood floor in the dining area from where they’d bled out from their gunshot wounds.

The memory of that day hit me. The full force of it causing me to drop to my knees, my hands planted on the floor to steady myself.

I gasped for air, fighting back the tears springing to my eyes. They fell down anyway, streaking across my cheeks.

Dead.

Dead.

Dead.

Coming here was a mistake. No matter how much I hated my parents, watching them die was one of the worst moments of my life. The gunshots rang in my ears. Even though I knew now he’d used a silencer, the shots weren’t exactly quiet. The movies and TV shows got that so wrong.

I needed to get out of this room, but I couldn’t move. I was glued to the floor, watching the scene happen over and over again in my mind. I saw myself hiding behind the kitchen counter. How Aiden had walked over to me and told me he wasn’t going to kill me. How terrified and confused I’d been.

Knowing they deserved this didn’t make it any better. Knowing how I’d come to fall in love with Aiden wasn’t a consolation either. He’d still done this. How could I ever forget his cold, remorseless expression when he took my parents’ lives?

I felt awful. I’d justified everything he’d done. I’d made it okay when it really wasn’t.

“Who are you?”

“Your worst nightmare.”

Except Aiden hadn’t turned out to be my worst nightmare at all. He’d been exactly what I never knew I needed.

I sat up, raking my hands through my hair and dashing away my tears from my cheeks. I couldn’t allow myself to break all over again.

You’re stronger than this. You know you are.

This was something I had to face. I couldn’t hide behind my love for the man who killed them. I had to accept the harsh realities in this life. Aiden was a killer. He’d done something unthinkable. He felt no remorse for it. And I still loved him.

The only remorse he felt was that I ever saw him do it. That I was there that night and had to witness my own parents dying. Aiden still had compassion and empathy even if sometimes his form of justice wasn’t right or legal.

Remember his face when you left him that day. When he thought he was losing you forever. It broke something inside you, didn’t it?

All those awful memories we shared bound us together. No matter how sick and twisted this entire thing was, I still had him and he had me. I wasn’t falling apart completely. I was still here. My heart still hammered against my chest and oxygen filled my lungs. I’d faced the memory of that day.

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